Arts & Culture Pillar
Fall 2024 Fellows and Affiliates Gathering
Exploring how access to arts and cultural experiences serve as a foundation for vibrant communities
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) is a community of givers – donors and doers working together to create opportunities for the people and communities of Appalachian Ohio. Organized as a 501(c)(3) regional community foundation, FAO inspires and supports gifts of time, talent and treasure to create a Flourishing Appalachian Ohio.
FAO’s network includes 14 geographic affiliates, the region-wide African American Community Fund and more than 700 charitable funds. With the goal of building our region’s next generation of leaders, FAO’s Growing Home Fellowship Program provides financial stipends and leadership development opportunities to young people who commit to live, work and volunteer as community builders in Appalachian Ohio.
Welcome to Zanesville! A recent study by Betway found Zanesville to be the second most charming town in the United States based on several metrics, including the number of museums and art galleries. What a fitting location for a weekend of exploring and celebrating the role we – and arts and culture – play in creating communities where everyone flourishes!
Welcome to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s
Growing Home Fellowship | Fall 2024 gathering Highlighting FAO’s
Arts & Culture Pillar
Saturday, September 7 – Sunday, September 8
Zanesville-Muskingum County Conference & Welcome Center 205 N. Fifth Street | Zanesville, OH 43701
The Growing Home Fellowship pilot is funded through a public-private partnership, with federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education and private funding made possible by generous donors to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.
Special thanks to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine who, through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Program, appropriated funds through the Ohio Department of Higher Education to fund this pilot program and to private donors, including anonymous donors and Ken Taylor of Ohio CAT.
The program is funded through the U.S. Department of Education (75% or $4 million) and FAO donors (25% or $1 million).
Saturday,
September
7| Retreat Agenda
ACTIVITY
ARRIVAL AND NETWORKING BREAKFAST
Continental breakfast provided
WELCOME
Muskingum County Growing Home Fellows: Tiffani Brewster, Samantha Corbett and Trevor Tom
Cara Dingus Brook, President and CEO, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
LOCATION
TRANSITION TO MORNING SESSION
THE ART OF MAKING THE ASK
Judi Smith, CFRE, President, GivingSMITH
BREAK AND TRANSITION TO LUNCH
LUNCH LUNCH PANEL: USING ARTS AND CULTURE TO CREATE VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
Donna Collins, Executive Director, Ohio Arts Council
Kingsley Lims Nyarko, Assistant Professor and Chair of Film and Video, Columbus College of Art & Design
Courtney Pepper, Growing Home Fellow, Our Town Coshocton
Mike Workman, Co-founder, Morgan Community Fund
MODERATOR:
Zack Canter, Growing Home Fellow
Q&A to follow
1:45 pm BREAK AND TRANSITION TO AFTERNOON SESSIONS
Saturday, September 7| Retreat Agenda
ACTIVITY
BREAKOUT SESSION 1
FELLOWS SESSION: INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN THINKING
Ben Eng, PhD, Interim Dean, Marshall University Lewis College of Business
AFFILIATES SESSION: OUR SECOND MOUNTAIN: FAO’S FUTURE VISION
Cara Dingus Brook, President and CEO, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
BREAK AND TRANSITION TO BREAKOUT SESSION 2
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
FELLOWS SESSION, OPTION 1: WISDOM FROM THE JOURNEY: THE HEART OF START-UPS
Megan Kvamme, FAO Board Member and Ohio Transparent Telecom Founder
FELLOWS SESSION, OPTION 2: APPALACHIAN HISTORY
Tom O’Grady, Director of Outreach, Southeast Ohio History Center
AFFILIATES SESSION: ADDRESSING THE GREAT WEALTH TRANSFER THROUGH CHARITABLE GIFT PLANNING
Judi Smith, CFRE, President, GivingSMITH
RECEPTION
5:30 pm DINNER
6 pm 7:30 pm
THE ART OF MAKING THE ASK: COLLECTIVE GRANTMAKING
JUDGES:
Ernie Bynum, Co-founder, African American Community Fund
Jeff Chaddock, AMPA™, CRPC®, FAO Board Member and Private Wealth Advisor, Envisage Wealth
Maribeth Wright, Retired Principal and CPA, Rea & Associates, and Director of Outreach, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
MASTER OF CEREMONIES:
Guy Land, Leadership Coach, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
DESSERT RECEPTION AND MEET THE ARTIST
Alan Cottrill, Sculptor and Co-founder, Coopermill Bronzeworks Sunday, September 8 | Retreat Agenda
See more information on page 14.
Toni Kellar, NCC®, Founder and Director, Newsight Life
Imran Nuri, Artist, Storyteller and Motivational Speaker WITH INTRODUCTION BY
Nancy Lahmers, FAO Board Secretary and Retired
Executive Director of Graduate Programs, The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business
FELLOWS RESPONSE TO WEEKEND AND SEND-OFF
Bagged lunches will be available.
Heritage Hall
First Floor
Alan Cottrill Sculpture Studio 110 S. Sixth St. Zanesville, OH
Saturday | About our speakers
WELCOME WITH MUSKINGUM COUNTY GROWING HOME FELLOWS
Tiffani Brewster, who lives in Zanesville, is a school psychologist supporting students through the Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center. For her service project, Tiffani is volunteering with the Muskingum County Park District, where she assists with community events such as Riverfest, youth conservation programs and semiannual community plant sales.
Samantha Corbett of Coshocton is a music teacher at Muskingum County’s Nashport Elementary School. For her service project, Samantha has joined the nonprofit Our Town Coshocton, a group focused on bringing business and events to the Coshocton community, as well as beautifying the downtown area and ensuring the town is recognized as a great place to live.
Trevor Tom, a resident of Chandlersville in Muskingum County, serves as principal at Shenandoah High School, a STEM-designated school. Trevor’s family owns a small cattle operation, which focuses on raising purebred cattle. He is serving as treasurer of the Muskingum County Farm Bureau board and collaborating with other community partners to increase awareness of the value of agriculture to local community development.
Growing Home Fellow Eli Wagner, a multimedia artist and visual arts teacher at Wellston High School, will be doing illustrative notetaking throughout the weekend’s sessions.
Eli Wagner, who lives in Athens County, is a multimedia artist and visual arts teacher at Wellston High School. They have an MEd in K-12 art education and a BFA in ceramics, both from Ohio University. To complete their MEd, they student taught at Amesville Elementary School and Federal Hocking middle and high schools. They also have led before- and after-school art projects for K-8 students through Project SAFE in the Logan-Hocking School District and have been an instructor at the Dairy Barn Summer Art Camp. Through their fellowship, Eli is serving the Dairy Barn Arts Center, specifically supporting and playing a leadership role in the annual Souper Bowl fundraiser.
Tiffani Brewster, Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center
Samantha Corbett, Tri-Valley Local Schools
Trevor Tom, Noble Local Schools
Cara Dingus Brook is president and CEO of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. During her 17-year tenure, FAO has grown its assets 10-fold, incubated 10 local community foundations and the regionwide African American Community Fund, and received national recognition, especially for pioneering the nation’s first nonprofit IPO. Originally from southern Ohio, she now resides in the Hocking Hills.
10 am
Imran Nuri is a Chicago-based artist, storyteller and motivational speaker. He is driven by a deeply rooted sense of curiosity, the desire to bring people together and the belief that the most effective way to create change and unite society is to tell captivating stories and create art that inspires audiences to become the best they can be.
Imran is best known for creating Advice From America , a black-andwhite photo series, which later became a book, of life advice from 1,000 strangers he met during an 84-day, 15,298-mile journey while living in his car. With a background in nonprofits, entrepreneurship, marketing and social media management, he has raised millions of dollars for childhood cancer research and founded a nonprofit that helped to democratize philanthropy.
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
THE ART OF MAKING THE ASK
Judi Smith works with nonprofits to engage donors in thoughtful and generous giving. Her extensive experience across higher education, the arts, and national and international philanthropy allows her to assess organizations’ needs and guide them toward solutions that advance their mission.
A past president of the Arizona Charitable Gift Planners and the St. Louis Planned Giving Council, Judi speaks nationally on topics related to wise charitable giving. She has also served on Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) boards and as a mentor and trainer for the Certified Fund Raising Executive exam. Among her honors and awards is the 2005 Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year from the Greater Ozarks Chapter of AFP.
10:45 am
SPEAKER
Cara Dingus Brook, President and CEO, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
Imran Nuri, Artist, Storyteller and Motivational Speaker
Judi Smith, CFRE, President, GivingSMITH
LUNCH PANEL: USING ARTS AND CULTURE TO CREATE VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
MODERATOR:
PANELISTS:
Zack Canter is the agricultural natural resources teacher at Buckeye Trail High School in Guernsey County. Through his service, he is working with the Warrior Prairie project, a collaboration between Buckeye Trail students and the community to build, plant and maintain a native tallgrass prairie. The project recently received a grant through the Southwestern Energy STEM Education Fund in partnership with FAO.
Donna Collins has more than 30 years of experience in leading statewide nonprofit organizations and a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
Donna serves as co-chair of the Ohio Advisory Group of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, is a member of the Ohio Women’s Suffrage Monument Commission, a committee chair for the America 250-Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semiquincentennial and a fellow with the Ohio Art Education Association. She has been inducted into the Ohio Educational Theatre Association’s Hall of Fame.
Mike Workman is a champion for Morgan County and Appalachian Ohio and a successful entrepreneur who employs hundreds of people across the region.
A former FAO Board member, he co-founded the Morgan Community Fund (MCF), one of FAO’s 15 affiliate foundation partners. Throu gh his work with MCF and as a former executive director of the Morgan County Community Improvement Corporation, Mike has witnessed the power of the arts as a gateway to opportunity. His philanthropy includes a planned gift that will provide MCF a home for generations to come and a place for community art and learning.
Zack Canter, Growing Home Fellow
Donna Collins, Executive Director, Ohio Arts Council
Mike Workman, Co-founder, Morgan Community Fund
Courtney Pepper, a lifelong resident of Appalachian Ohio, is a school counselor at River View High School, her alma mater. She and her husband live in Coshocton with their two miniature schnauzers, Indy and Banjo. Because she often works with students who plan to leave Coshocton County (only to come back years later), Courtney is completing her service through Our Town Coshocton, a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing downtown Coshocton and making it an even better place to live.
Kingsley Lims Nyarko holds a multifaceted role within the Film and Video Program at the Columbus College of Art & Design with a keen focus on nurturing diversity, equity and inclusion – from shaping cur riculum to refining recruitment strategies.
A filmmaker, Kingsley actively engages local, national and inter national communities. His career spans numerous international projects, including shorts and feature films, where his expertise in cinematography and understanding of the film production process shine through. He i s a city producer for the 48-Hour Film Project and serves on the Gateway Foundation Advisory Board and the Film Columbus Advisory Board.
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
– Peter Drucker
Kingsley Lims Nyarko, Assistant Professor and Chair of Film and Video, Columbus College of Art & Design
BREAKOUT SESSION 1
FELLOWS SESSION | INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN THINKING
Ben Eng is serving as interim dean of the Lewis College of Business at Marshall University, where he also is an associate professor of marketing and entrepreneurship and the executive director and co-founder of the iCenter, the university’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation.
Before his career in academia, Ben, who is a native of Huntington, West Virginia, worked in the entertainment industry at one of Hollywood’s leading talent agencies, United Talent Agency. His research focuses on design thinking and celebrity branding. He has presented his research at conferences such as the Association for Consumer Research North American Conference and the Society for Advancement of Management International Business Conference.
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
FELLOWS SESSION, OPTION 1 | WISDOM FROM THE JOURNEY: THE HEART OF START-UPS
Megan Kvamme is a former investment banker and a highly successful entrepreneur, serving as CEO for a portfolio of companies while participating on numerous boards. She founded several women-owned businesses, including the technology start-up Beez, as well as Ohio Transparent Telecom, bringing broadband to underserved areas with an initial focus on Appalachian Ohio.
Megan serves on the FAO Board and is active in the community, participating on boards such as the America 250-Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semiquincentennial and The Benevolent Campaign Advisory Committee at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She also sits on the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship Advisory Board at her alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ben Eng, PhD, Interim Dean, Marshall University Lewis College of Business
Megan Kvamme, FAO Board Member and Ohio Transparent Telecom Founder
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
FELLOWS SESSION, OPTION 2 | APPALACHIAN HISTORY
Tom O’Grady, Director of Outreach, Southeast Ohio History Center
Tom O’Grady has spent the past 25 years as a student of Ohio history, researching its geography and settlement, the moundbuilders, Ohio canals and several of its interesting characters and their stories. His interest in history was awakened while working to clean up roadways and streams and stumbling into the remnants of the Hocking Valley Canal while running the Athens County Recycling and Litter Control program.
Tom is a former board member and executive director of the Southeast Ohio History Center and an instructor of observational astronomy at Ohio University. He launched the first comprehensive curbside re cycling program in Ohio and has been promoting waste reduction and a sustainable economy for 30 years.
THE ART OF MAKING THE ASK: COLLECTIVE GRANTMAKING
This year, the Growing Home Fellows are launching service projects they developed that will advance opportunities across our five Pillars of Prosperity and our communities. During “The Art of Making the Ask: Collective Grantmaking,” fellows will deliver four-minute funding requests tied to their service, followed by four minutes of questions from the panel of judges. Following all presentations, audience members will vote for their top pitches to receive funding.
PRESENTING FELLOWS
C ast your vote!
Scan the QR code here to participate in the voting process.
Ashley Cain | Morgan County Farm to Community Mobile Food Pantry
Brianna Johnson | Hocking County Appalachian Literary Arts & Storytelling Festival
Leah Sowers | Muskingum County Ludowici Farmers Market
Bri Jenkins | Jackson County Jackson County Forward
Hanna Vera | Belmont County Captina Conservancy
Rusty Winland | Monroe and Noble Counties Beallsville Volunteer Fire Department
Guy Land, Leadership Coach, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
Guy Land joined FAO earlier this year after serving for 30 years with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), where he was a senior staff member for the Federal Co-Chair, directing ARC’s legislative work and advising on economic development issues. Guy has also taught leadership courses at Harvard University. In his Arlington County, Virginia, community, he led the creation of a community-focused nonprofit.
JUDGES:
Ernie Bynum, Co-Founder, African American Community Fund and Minority Business Resource Network
Ernie A. Bynum is a 10th-generation Appalachian, who has been a longtime and passionate supporter of African Americans and other minority communities in Appalachian Ohio. He is co-founder of the Minority Business Resource Network, increasing the diversity of the region’s business community, and the African American Community Fund at FAO, addressing disparities in the African American community and improving the physical, economic and structural conditions that affect quality of life.
Jeff Chaddock, AMPA™, CRPC®, FAO Board Member and Private Wealth Advisor, Envisage Wealth
Jeff Chaddock is founder and CEO of Envisage Wealth, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, where he has been ranked in the top 1 percent of advisors for the past 35 years. A lifelong resident of Appalachian Ohio, Jeff serves on the FAO Board and, together with his husband, has committed to leaving 97 percent of their estate to endowments at FAO, supporting the causes and institutions they’re passionate about for generations to come.
Maribeth Wright, Retired Principal and CPA, Rea & Associates, and Director of Outreach, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
Maribeth Wright was a successful CPA for 40 years, working in the nonprofit sector and retiring as principal and CPA at Rea & Associates. A lifelong resident of Cambridge, Maribeth’s service to FAO and Appalachian Ohio runs deep. She serves as director of outreach at FAO, president of the Guernsey County Foundation and is a former member of the FAO Board.
Toni Kellar is a transformational educator, facilitator and self-leadership coach with a gift for creating the conditions for breakthrough. As founder and director of Newsight Life, she develops programs and services focused on leadership development.
Toni is a graduate of Newfield Network’s Coaching for Personal and Professional Mastery program, achieving certification as a Newfield Certified Coach from the International Coaching Federation-accredited school. She is a Certified Training Partner with the Center for Serving Leadership, a Circle Way practitioner and a Holding Space Coach & Facilitator. The founder of Roots To Rhythm®, Toni has been a professional drum circle facilitator for 25-plus years and is also a Dance for All facilitator, trained in many expressive arts modalities.
9:30 am 11 am SPEAKER
Nancy Lahmers, FAO Board Secretary and Retired Executive Director of Graduate Programs, The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business
Nancy Lahmers retired as executive director of graduate programs for the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University, where she also led the Honors Cohort Program and taught business and employment law. She has over 25 years of legal and business leadership experience in education, manufacturing, agriculture and service industries and serves as secretary of the FAO Board.
Toni Kellar, NCC®, Founder and Director of Newsight Life
Meet the artist
ALAN COTTRILL SCULPTURE STUDIO | 110 South Sixth Street, Zanesville, OH
Alan Cottrill, Sculptor and Co-founder, Coopermill Bronzeworks
Alan Cottrill was raised in Appalachian Ohio and found his first career success as the founder of a fast-food chain. An international entrepreneur, he was invited by the U.S. Department of Commerce to participate in trade missions throughout the world and, through these travels, discovered a passion for art.
In 1990, Alan sold his business interests and dedicated himself to becoming one of the finest figurative sculptors in the world. In 1996, he and lifelong friend Charles Leasure founded Coopermill Bronzeworks, a bronze casting foundry in Zanesville, where they have cast over 500 of Alan’s statues and hundreds of other sculptors’ works into bronze. He has commissioned monuments throughout the U.S., and thousands of tourists visit his Zanesville studio/gallery each year.
Notes
OUR MISSION
We seek to unleash the potential within Appalachian Ohio by growing and leveraging gifts that advance sustained transformation.
We seek to unleash the potential within Appalachian Ohio by growing and leveraging gifts that advance sustained transformation.
OUR VISION
OUR VISION
Appalachian Ohio is abundant in possibility for all who call our region home, today and into perpetuity.
Appalachian Ohio is abundant in possibility for all who call our region home, today and in perpetuity.
OUR IMPACT
1,550+ grants, scholarships and fellowships totaling $9.5 million awarded in 2023
1,178 grants and scholarships totaling nearly $5 million awarded in 2022 600 donor-established funds
700+ donorestablished funds
$122 million in charitable assets
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION FOR APPALACHIAN OHIO
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION FOR APPALACHIAN OHIO
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio is a community of givers who bring together our time, talent, and treasure to create opportunities and advance sustained transformations across our 32-county region. We maximize our impact by investing in local solutions, supporting transformative leaders, and advancing approaches that are collaborative, holistic, evidence-based, and sustainable.
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio is a community of givers who bring together our time, talent and treasure to create opportunities and advance sustained transformations across our 32-county region. We maximize our impact by investing in local solutions, supporting transformative leaders and advancing approaches that are collaborative, holistic, evidence-based and sustainable.
OUR COMMUNITY
15 Affiliate Foundations
(Including the regionwide African American Community Fund and 14 geographic affiliates)
121 Growing Home Fellows (Including 60 attracted to the region and 61 who already live here)
= County with one or more Growing Home Fellow(s)
= Affiliate Foundation
OUR PILLARS OF PROSPERITY
Together with our community of givers, we advance lasting change across five areas that increase quality of life, known as our Pillars of Prosperity.
Together with our community of givers, we advance opportunities across five areas of need, known as our Pillars of Prosperity.
Our investments improve health, create educational opportunities, advance economic development and environmental stewardship, and provide access to arts and cultural experiences.
Our investments improve health, create educational opportunities, advance economic development and environmental stewardship, and provide access to arts and cultural experiences.